EDITORIAL: Debt-limit pragmatism and politics

Published: Monday, February 17, 2014 at 05:14 PM.

Raising the federal debt ceiling isn’t as radical a move as some would have you believe. Basically, it means increasing the nation’s borrowing authority. Congress used to do it with little comment. Then Barack Obama became president, and Republican leaders talked as if raising the debt ceiling would destroy America.
Until last week.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., persuaded just enough of their fellow Republicans in Congress to go along with legislation raising the debt limit. And with no strings attached. The Obama administration didn’t have to yield on anything.
The House passed the debt-limit bill last Tuesday and the Senate did so the following day. Tea party Republicans tried to stop it but couldn’t.
It was pure politics. GOP leaders are still wincing from last fall’s partial government shutdown, which most of the public blamed on their party. They don’t need another bruising budget battle, one that could alienate voters all over again, during the run-up to the midterm elections.
Some Republicans, of course, took a loftier stand, arguing that a refusal to raise the debt ceiling would hurt the economy. “At the end of the day,” said Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., “you still have to deal with the fact that you can’t let the country default. What’s the other strategy? Default (and) see how the world reacts to that? See what the stock market does?”
Sen. Johanns is right: Inviting default would be a reckless strategy. But letting the government keep piling up debt isn’t much better. A nation burdened by debt is at least partly responsible for the economy’s slow growth.
Serious efforts to rein in federal spending usually meet political resistance, howls of outrage and panicky attempts to dodge the budget ax. That’s no reason, however, to avoid the vital job of reducing U.S. debt. Nor is the fact that the debt ceiling has been raised yet again. Fiscal responsibility is essential for America’s future.

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Raising the federal debt ceiling isn’t as radical a move as some would have you believe. Basically, it means increasing the nation’s borrowing authority. Congress used to do it with little comment. Then Barack Obama became president, and Republican leaders talked as if raising the debt ceiling would destroy America.
Until last week.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., persuaded just enough of their fellow Republicans in Congress to go along with legislation raising the debt limit. And with no strings attached. The Obama administration didn’t have to yield on anything.
The House passed the debt-limit bill last Tuesday and the Senate did so the following day. Tea party Republicans tried to stop it but couldn’t.
It was pure politics. GOP leaders are still wincing from last fall’s partial government shutdown, which most of the public blamed on their party. They don’t need another bruising budget battle, one that could alienate voters all over again, during the run-up to the midterm elections.
Some Republicans, of course, took a loftier stand, arguing that a refusal to raise the debt ceiling would hurt the economy. “At the end of the day,” said Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., “you still have to deal with the fact that you can’t let the country default. What’s the other strategy? Default (and) see how the world reacts to that? See what the stock market does?”
Sen. Johanns is right: Inviting default would be a reckless strategy. But letting the government keep piling up debt isn’t much better. A nation burdened by debt is at least partly responsible for the economy’s slow growth.
Serious efforts to rein in federal spending usually meet political resistance, howls of outrage and panicky attempts to dodge the budget ax. That’s no reason, however, to avoid the vital job of reducing U.S. debt. Nor is the fact that the debt ceiling has been raised yet again. Fiscal responsibility is essential for America’s future.